RVC invested in the development of drugs for blindness
RBV Capital Fund and a pool of private investors invest $6 million in medical research to restore vision
RVC http://www.rusventure.ru/
The RBV Capital venture fund, created with the participation of RVC capital, together with a pool of international investors BlueWater Angels, ExSight Capital and Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in the field of ophthalmology, invested $6 million USD in RetroSense Terapeutics in the investment round. Previously, $7 million had already been invested in the company in the A-round, as a result, the total amount of investments received by the company reached $13 million.
RetroSense Terapeutics is a private biopharmaceutical company developing a drug for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa and age–related macular degeneration. Retinitis pigmentosa is a hereditary incurable degenerative eye disease that causes severe visual impairment and blindness; age–related macular degeneration is a group of diseases in which the retina of the eye is affected and central vision is impaired. Macular degeneration is based on vascular pathology and ischemia of the central zone of the retina. Both diseases are currently incurable, existing drugs only slow down the process of vision loss, but do not prevent it. To date, retinitis pigmentosa affects about 50,000 people in Russia and 100,000 in the CIS. The Retrosense technology is aimed at restoring vision after the receptors in the retina of the eye have died, which will allow blind and visually impaired people to regain their sight, both in Russia and around the world.
The company plans to use the investment to prepare a package of preclinical data and conduct clinical trials for the indications of retinopathy pigmentosa phase 1 and phase 2a.
"Joining the pool of new profile venture investors demonstrates confidence in the development of RetroSense Therapeutics in the field of gene therapy and opto-genetics. The financial support received will allow the company to expand and complete the 1st and 2nd stages of clinical trials of the use of the drug RST-001 faster," said Sean Ainsworth, CEO of RetroSense.
Dmitry Kuzmin, a venture partner of the RBV Capital Foundation, PhD in Chemistry, a well-known neuroscientist with experience in the subject area at the Max Planck Society Institute for Brain Research (MPIH) and University College London (UCL), became the representative of the RBV Capital Foundation on the Board of Directors of the company.
Alexey Konov, Managing Partner of RBV Capital Fund, said: "It is a great honor for us to be in the company of such respected investors. We have invested about 2 million US dollars in this transaction and are glad to start cooperation with the team of the company RetroSense, expecting breakthrough results in the very near future. We also hope to establish cooperation between the company and Russian partners – the first contacts have already taken place within the framework of the recently held Open Innovations Forum, at which, at the invitation of the Forum organizing committee, the CEO and founder of the company Sean Ainsworth and the main developer of the technology Professor Zhuo-Hua Pan made speeches."
RetroSense Terapeutics, a private American biotechnology company, develops drugs based on gene therapy and opto-genetics to restore the vision of patients suffering from pigmented rhinitis and age-related macular dystrophy. At a ceremony held on Friday, November 13, in Ann Arbor, the RetroSense Therapeutics round was recognized as the "Deal of the Year" in the Midwest of the United States. Currently, there are no registered drugs on the market for the treatment of these diseases. The basis for the development is the unique research of scientists from Wayne State University and Massachusetts General Hospital, the rights to which are owned by RetroSense. RetroSense is managed by a team of managers with experience in product and technology development from invention to completion of clinical trials. RBV Capital Venture Fund under the management of RusBio Ventures Management Company was formed at the end of 2014 by venture market professionals with successful experience of domestic and international transactions in the field of biomedicine.
The Fund became the first large independent investment partnership established in the Russian Federation. The anchor private investor of the Fund is the leading Russian private pharmaceutical company CJSC R-Pharm. For more information, please contact:
Public Relations Service of JSC "RVC"
tel.: (495) 777-0104, e-mail: pr@rusventure.ru
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26.11.2015